PDC will work with neighbors on vacant properties at Southeast 72nd Avenue and Foster Road in Portland

View full sizeSTEPHEN BEAVEN/ The OregonianThe Portland Development Commission and the Portland Housing Bureau purchased two lots at Southeast 72nd Avenue and Foster Road in April for nearly $1.4 million. The properties will be redeveloped, but no decision has been made on what will be built at the sites.

The Portland Development Commission plans to meet with residents,
business owners and others next spring to help determine what to do with two
lots the PDC purchased at Southeast 72nd Avenue and Foster Road.

The lots are on Southeast Foster Road and separated by 72nd Avenue. At least one of the properties was the home for Metro Auto Wholesale.

The lots are part of the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood
and sit within the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area. The development
commission plans to meet with the urban renewal district advisory committee and
neighborhood leaders starting in early spring, said Shawn Uhlman, a spokesman
for PDC.

The Portland Housing Bureau helped pay for the
properties because a mixed-use project could work at the site, said Housing Bureau spokeswoman Daniel Ledezma.

But despite the Housing Bureau's role in the purchase
of the properties, Uhlman said that no decisions on development at the site
have been made.

"As far as what we do plan to
put there, it's way too soon to tell," Uhlman said. "We haven't gotten near
there yet."

If housing is not part of the
development, Uhlman said, PDC could refund the Housing Bureau's money.

The Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association has met with a PDC official to talk about the sites,
but has not taken a position on what kind of development the neighborhood would
like to see, said Jonathan Brandt, a member of the Mt. Scott-Arleta board.

Brandt pointed out that there
is already affordable housing nearby.

So rather than building more
apartments, Brandt said he hopes the PDC will consider creating a public market
or a neighborhood meeting spot, "a place where people can gather and really
celebrate our community."